With so much modern dance centered on anguish, tension and choreographers’ self-interests, it was refreshing to see Sanspointe Dance Company and guest company Code f.a.d. refraining from taking themselves too seriously.

That’s not to say there were no tense moments at Thursday’s performance at Children’s Dance Foundation; without the emotional stretching, humanness would be lost. But in “Sweet,” Sanspointe director Rhea Speights spoke to her audience in a gentle way, employing a trio of musicians to manipulate the senses and Sanspointe dancers to solidify them.

The music was wide-ranging — dissonant improvs to bluegrass, a nostalgic concertina to the whiny twang of a dobro to bluesy vocals. It played out in vignettes, at first serious, then in playful struggle. Two dancers sported babies — real babies — who did what babies do best — smiling, laughing, dancing while being held by mom’s outstretched arms. Though too personally directed to this company for broad appeal, it was nevertheless a delight.

Each of the seven “briefs” centered on a different fashion designer. “Burberry Dreams” was a watery immersion, a pair of dancers in black suits holding umbrellas while a video showed images such as a pond or water dropping from a leaf. The high competition of the fashion world played out in “The Gucci Brand and its Legacy,” its palpable anxiety built by quick energetic dancing and cartwheels, leading to the sound of a gunshot as the lights faded.

“Oscar de la Renta” was a fluid and free solo in a black and orange polka-dot dress. The athletic “Vera Wang: The Dress” had a duo working out to pushups and jumping jacks and swimming across the floor. The sports motif continued in “A Dolce & Gabbana Doubleheader,” a baseball-inspired dance with designer uniforms of pink caps, pinstriped pants, perky movements and plenty of windups, pitches and safe signs. “The Louis Vuitton Tradition” turned into a mischievous game in which a child receives a cake in the face.

Humorous and evocative, “Fashion Briefs” provides a unique choreographic glimpse into the fashion world while imprinting Code f.a.d.’s own stylistic stamp.